Train operators have urged the drivers’ union ASLEF to accept reforms, after the union announced two further strikes on railways in England on 30 September and 4 October, along with overtime bans on 29 September and also from 2 to 6 October. The union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘While we regret having to take this action – we don’t want to lose a day’s pay, or disrupt passengers, as they try to travel by train – the government, and the employers, have forced us into this position. The Rail Delivery Group responded: ‘We want to give our staff a pay increase, but it has always been linked to implementing necessary, sensible reforms that would enhance services for our passengers. The union have rejected a fair and affordable offer without putting it to their members, which would take average driver base salaries for a four-day week without overtime from £60,000 to nearly £65,000. We ask the ASLEF leadership and executive to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a more reliable and robust railway for the future.’ Labour remains cautious about HS2 The Labour Party has refused to promise that HS2 will be built in full if it wins the next General Election. The party’s campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden has spoken in favour of the high speed project, but he said the costs needed to be confirmed before the line could be included in the Labour manifesto. The government has already refused to confirm that Phase 2 to Crewe and Manchester is going ahead, while the section between Old Oak Common in west London and Euston station has already been paused for at least the next two years, amid uncertainty about the design of the station at Euston. Train contract decisions due The government needs to make decisions soon about the future of two train operating contracts which both expire next month. Avanti West Coast, owned by FirstGroup and Trenitalia, was extended for six months in the spring to allow more time to recover from operating problems, but runs out on 15 October. CrossCountry, which is run by Arriva, will expire on the same day. Talks at the Department for Transport with both operators are understood to be in progress. Reopening plan cut back Plans to restore the passenger service between Burton-on-Trent and Leicester are set to be cut back to Coalville, because there is not enough capacity for passenger trains on the single line onwards from there to Leicester. Passenger services were withdrawn in September 1964 but the line is still used for freight. However, redoubling between Coalville and Leicester to allow passenger trains to return is being described as a ‘significant infrastructure investment’. Network Rail’s programme director for the Restoring Your Railways project Mike Smith said: ‘Network Rail is working to further develop the Ivanhoe Line project. Currently, the project is not extending to Leicester. However, this reconnection could form part of a separate future project, should the initial Ivanhoe service prove to be a success.’ Stations on the line could be at Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Castle Gresley, near Swadlincote. 

The Prime Minister has refused to say whether HS2 will still be built north of Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester, following the revelation that talks have been held with the Chancellor over the past few days about reducing the scheme still further. The original plan has already lost the section to Leeds, which is now set to terminate at East Midlands Parkway, while work on the new high speed station at London Euston has been paused for at least the next two years. The latest uncertainty has dismayed politicians in north west England. The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: ‘Why should it be the North of England that pays the price? What we are going to end up with here is in the southern half of the country, a modern, high-speed rail network, and the northern half of the country left with crumbling Victorian infrastructure. That won't level us up, it will do the exact opposite. Let’s have an honest conversation about it.’ Work is continuing on the line between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham. A spokesman for the Prime Minister would not be drawn on the fate of the Manchester line, saying only: ‘Spades are already in the ground on our HS2 programme and we're focused on delivering it.’ Tramline extended Trams will start running to Wolverhampton station on Sunday. West Midlands Metro has been extended from its original Wolverhampton terminus at St George’s, on the fringe of the city centre, to Piper’s Row and on to the city’s recently modernised National Rail station. The new services will provide direct interchanges with buses as well as trains. The development has been led by Transport for West Midlands, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, working with construction and design partner Midland Metro Alliance, operator Midland Metro Ltd and the City of Wolverhampton Council. Penalties rise Penalty fares are increasing on Manchester trams. The fare for travelling without a ticket or pass on Metrolink is going up to £120 from 24 September as part of continuing efforts to combat fraudulent travel. Transport for Greater Manchester said tickets would be checked by dozens of additional Customer Service Representatives. Airport boost Trains will start running every 15 minutes to Stansted Airport all day once again from 10 December, when new timetables start. The service was reduced in response to the Covid pandemic, but Greater Anglia had already restored four trains an hour during the peaks. This frequency will now continue during the rest of the day and also at weekends. Greater Anglia said passenger numbers at London Stansted Airport have been increasing. Transpennine MD The interim managing director of TransPennine express Chris Jackson has been confirmed as managing director. The appointment took effect yesterday. He had been in charge at TPE since the operator was nationalised on 28 May.  New station Network Rail has awarded the second of two contracts to build the new station for the Beaulieu development at Chelmsford to J Murphy & Sons Ltd. The award follows an agreement between Network Rail and Essex County Council to complete the work. The £124 million contract includes main construction on behalf of Essex County Council and also Chelmsford City Council.

A newspaper report is claiming that HS2 between the West Midlands and Manchester is set to be axed. The Independent alleges that the Prime Minister and Chancellor have discussed cancelling Phase 2 to release money to fund tax cuts before the next election. It would be the second time that the project has been reduced, after HS2 to Leeds was cut back to East Midlands Parkway in November 2021. Construction of Phase 1 between London and Birmingham is continuing, but the section between Euston and Old Oak Common is also in doubt, after construction was officially paused for two years in the spring, amid confusion and debate over the plans for High Speed platforms at Euston. During Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons yesterday, Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant asked: ‘HS2 is the most dysfunctional organisation I have ever had to deal with. Will the Prime Minister, in the short term, try to restructure HS2 so that it works as a company should? In the longer term, can he save other constituencies by stopping HS2 at the end of phase 1?’ However, Mr Sunak said only that he understood the ‘frustrations’ that HS2 construction was causing in Lichfield, and that ‘the Transport Secretary will continue to hold [HS2] to account’. Phase 1 between London and Birmingham was planned to open in 2026, but that is now not expected to happen until 2029.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that it is suspending peak hour train fares for a trial period of six months, and that ‘off-peak’ fares will be available all day. The experiment will start on 2 October and continue until 29 March next year. Transport minister Fiona Hyslop told the Scottish Parliament that the trial is a ‘key part’ of its transport commitments, as set out in its recent Programme for Government. She said: ‘The Programme for Government makes clear our commitment to encourage a shift towards sustainable transport. We know that there is much to be done in encouraging people back to rail if we are to achieve our net zero targets. ‘This peak fare removal pilot is aimed at achieving this by making ticketing simpler with off-peak fares valid all day. This is an exciting and unique opportunity to encourage more people to choose a safe, reliable, and greener form of public transport.’ Scotland’s Railway managing director Alex Hynes added: ‘This is a hugely exciting opportunity for Scotland’s Railway to encourage more people across the country to choose rail travel instead of using the car. ‘Everyone at ScotRail is working hard to make sure that this six-month trial will be a success, and we will be monitoring our services and stations daily to see where we have any significant increases in customer journeys. ‘We know that cost and simplicity is a critical factor for people when they choose how to travel.’ Although peak fares will not be charged on most routes, they will continue to apply on journeys not controlled by ScotRail, such as Dunbar to Edinburgh. Minimum fares will also apply for some types of railcard until 10.00, while the Two Together railcard will be excluded before 09.30 on weekdays. Transport Scotland said the exceptions have to be made because they are part of wider national conditions which also apply in England and Wales. 

Opposition to proposals to close nearly all station ticket offices in England is growing, as more local authorities voice their objections. At least one is calling train operators to account at a special meeting, while a Mayor has tried using a station while his vision was artificially limited. Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Mayor Dr Nik Johnson joined Royal National Institute for Blind People campaigners at Ely station, where Greater Anglia is proposing to close the ticket office. He was given three sets of special glasses that simulate a range of eye conditions. He then tried to find his way around the station and use the ticket machines. The first set replicated total loss of peripheral vision, the second age-related macular degeneration, and the third, cataracts. Wearing the glasses and assisting himself with a white stick, the Mayor had to negotiate his way through station doors, find available ticket machines and try to work them, getting a taste of what travel would be like for blind and poorly-sighted passengers without the help of ticket office staff. Dr Nik Johnson is medically qualified. After the trials, he said: ‘I’m very grateful to the RNIB for the chance to experience what using train services is like for blind and partially sighted people. It was incredibly humbling, but also hugely motivating, and I’m determined to make sure public transport is there for everyone, including the campaign to keep properly staffed, fully accessible ticket offices open.’ Meanwhile, Devon County Council is taking separate action to counter the closures plan. This would affect every staffed station in Devon, including the major junction of Exeter St Davids, where 183,315 tickets were sold at the office last year, which was 12.1 per cent of the total number of journeys. The council has invited Great Western Railway and South Western Railway to a meeting at County Hall, where they will be questioned. A national consultation about the closures ended on 1 September, and the passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch are now sifting through a total of 680,000 responses. They are due to make recommendations to the transport secretary by the end of next month.

The derailment of a ScotRail HST at Carmont, near Stonehaven in north east Scotland, was caused by Network Rail’s failures to impose a speed restriction and to maintain an embankment drain properly, a court has been told. The derailment on 12 August 2020, in which three people lost their lives, happened after a Glasgow-bound train had been reversed at Carmont signal box because of another landslide further up the line, after several hours of very heavy rain. The HST was returning to Aberdeen when it collided with debris on the track and struck a bridge parapet. Some of the vehicles overturned down an embankment and a fire broke out in one of them, the leading power car. The crash claimed the lives of 45-year old driver Brett McCullough, 58-year old conductor Donald Dinnie and 62-year old passenger Christopher Stuchbury. Six people were hurt. The High Court in Aberdeen was told on 7 September that the drain had been built by contractor Carillion, which has since ceased trading, but Network Rail had not made sure it was constructed properly. It had also failed to have a handover meeting with Carillion after the work had been done, and did not have a proper system for dealing with the effects of bad weather. The Met Office had issued an amber ‘severe weather’ warning for the area the day before. Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court: ‘Network Rail cooperated fully with the investigation, and from the outset were clear that this case would result in a guilty plea.’ Network Rail admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and was fined £6,700,000. In a statement last night, Network Rail Scotland managing director Alex Hynes said: ‘The Carmont derailment and the tragic loss of Christopher Stuchbury, Donald Dinnie and Brett McCullough was a terrible day for their families, everyone involved, and for the railway network. ‘It is clear that our infrastructure was at fault for the accident, so it is right that Network Rail pled guilty. ‘To the families of those who lost their lives we would say again how deeply sorry we are that this tragedy was able to happen. And to those survivors who were injured, we are very sorry for the pain and distress caused. ‘Since the accident, we have been working hard to make our railway safer and to learn the lessons of Carmont. ‘We are absolutely committed to delivering on the recommendations made by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch in its report into the accident.’ The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said it will now ‘begin the process for a Fatal Accident Inquiry to examine the full circumstances surrounding these deaths, identify the lessons that can be learned and help to avoid such incidents happening in the future’.

The derailment of a ScotRail HST at Carmont, near Stonehaven in north east Scotland, was caused by Network Rail’s failure to impose a speed restriction and to maintain an embankment drain properly, a court has been told. The derailment on 12 August 2020, in which three people lost their lives, happened after a Glasgow-bound train had been reversed at Carmont signal box because of another landslide further up the line, following several hours of very heavy rain. The HST was returning to Aberdeen when it collided with debris on the track. The train collided with a bridge parapet and some of the vehicles overturned down an embankment in the crash, which claimed the lives of 45-year old driver Brett McCullough, 58-year old conductor Donald Dinnie and 62-year old passenger Christopher Stuchbury. Six people were hurt. The High Court in Aberdeen was told that the drain had been built by contractor Carillion, which has since ceased trading, but Network Rail had not made sure it was constructed properly. It had also failed to have a handover meeting with Carillion after the work had been done, and did not have a proper system for deailing with the effects of bad weather. The Met Office had issued an amber ‘severe weather’ warning for the area a day earlier. Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the court: ‘Network Rail cooperated fully with the investigation, and from the outset were clear that this case would result in a guilty plea.’ Network Rail has admitted two breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

A Scottish court is set to deal today with the prosecution case against Network Rail following the fatal Carmont derailment. Three people on board a train were killed in 2020 when it was derailed by debris washed on to the track near Stonehaven on 12 August, which was a day of heavy storms. Some of the vehicles in the ScotRail HST were overturned down an embankment in the crash, which claimed the lives of 45-year old driver Brett McCullough, 58-year old conductor Donald Dinnie and 62-year old passenger Christopher Stuchbury. The charges have not been specified, but will be brought at Aberdeen High Court  by His Majesty’s Advocate under section 76 of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995, which applies where notice has been given that a defendant will plead guilty. HS2 viaductSolihull Metropolitan Borough Council has approved HS2’s plans for a 425m viaduct which will cross Balsall Common. The plans incorporate local feedback over environmental sustainability, integration with the landscape, the structure’s design and public access.The project is being led by HS2’s main works contractor, Balfour Beatty VINCI, supported by a Design Joint Venture of Mott MacDonald and SYSTRA and architects Weston Williamson + Partners, who have been collecting the opinions of local people. The plans include wet woodland planting with native species, woodland edge planting to provide screens and hedgerow planting to improve the conditions for wildlife. Train trips for ten penceNorthern has released a final 100,000 tickets as part of its Flash Sale, all priced at 10p. They must be bought at least seven days in advance of travel. The journeys include York to Blackpool North, Manchester Piccadilly to Buxton and Sheffield to Leeds. Northern said it was hoping to provide ’a post-summer holiday boost to visitor numbers’. Northern’s Sale began on 4 September, with five million tickets offered at fares between 50p and £2. All the offers close at 18.00 today.

An updated strategy for railways in the West Midlands over the next 30 years has been published by the West Midlands Rail Executive. The first version was published in 2018, and the updated plans take into account the Covid pandemic and the increasing attention being paid to net zero. The WMRE had carried out a fresh consultation before unveiling its proposals. They include the Midlands Rail Hub as well as a train service between Lichfield and Burton-on-Trent, which would use an existing freight line. This would include a new station on the route at Alrewas, which lost its station in 1965. Another new station is proposed at Aldridge. Rail Wellbeing Live Registration has opened for the biggest free wellbeing event for the rail industry. The fourth Rail Wellbeing Live will take place over three days from 7 November. The sessions are free, and they include evening sessions for staff on night shifts. The speakers will include TV personality and campaigner Davina McCall, Olympic rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave and physician and mental health adviser Dr Alex George. Railway Industry Association appointments The Railway Industry Association has appointed a new chair and vice chair for its London & South region. The new chair is Ryan Anderson from Ricardo Rail and the vice chair is Bryony Goldsmith from Arcadis. RIA chief executive Darren Caplan said: ‘We are thrilled to welcome Ryan and Bryony as the chair and vice chair for the RIA London & South Leadership Group. Their vast experience and commitment to excellence will undoubtedly drive positive change.’

The proposed closure of most station ticket offices in England has been condemned as ‘unlawful’ by a local authority in the east of England. The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority said it had voiced its ‘deep concern’ about the effects of scrapping ticket offices, which are set to close at many major stations in London and elsewhere as well as in smaller places. The consultation closed at midnight on Friday and has attracted 680,000 responses, according to the passenger watchdogs Transport Focus and London TravelWatch, which now have the task of sifting through the responses and making recommendations by the end of October. The Combined Authority in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has sent its own response, which describes the process as ‘flawed’, which means that it is unlawful. The Authority is calling for the consultation to be restarted, because it says it fails to ‘inform the public properly of the plans’. The authority alleges that the process is unlawful because it says the plans to discontinue use of parts of railway stations do not comply with section 29 of the Railways Act 2005. It also says Equality Impact Assessments of the planned changes at individual stations should have been made available to inform anyone considering the effects of the proposals. Without these, the Combined Authority argues that the effect on vulnerable people, such as those with poor vision or limited mobility, or those who need to get the cheapest travel, can’t be properly assessed. It says: ‘Any fair consultation gives enough time and detail to enable intelligent, meaningful comment and that the information is shared in a way accessible for all would-be participants.’ It also asks for a figure to be put on staff changes at each station and says that ‘staffed, accessible ticket offices are an essential part of the rail network and must be protected’.. The Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Dr Nik Johnson added: ‘As I’ve said from the start, fully staffed and properly accessible ticket offices should be treated as an essential, non-negotiable part of the rail system. ‘As a Combined Authority, we’ve made our position known to the train operators, objecting to their proposals for widespread closure, and making clear our concerns about a consultation process that risked preventing meaningful participation. ‘So much of our work is dedicated to improving public transport such that it become the obvious choice for more and more of our residents. These proposals fly in the face of that approach, as stations without ticket offices could become no-go areas for many, wilfully excluding people who require support, and denying access to those who can’t buy their tickets online. ‘This is discrimination by design and must be opposed.’ Last night the Rail Delivery Group said: ‘We appreciate all the input we've received so far from the public and stakeholders. We want all our passengers to feel supported during any transition, and train companies will now work with independent passenger bodies at a local level to take on board the feedback. ‘In the meantime, we will continue to engage with passengers, accessibility and safety groups to make a better and more robust railway.’